The challenges facing the Saints are well documented. It’s a team trying to snap it’s first 3-game skid in a half-decade. The injuries have mounted with no end in sight. It’s a short week against an AFC power in the Bills.
So why is defensive leader and linebacker Demario Davis just fine with the adversity? Because that’s what life is, and the city of New Orleans has shown his team the blueprint for how to battle week in and week out.
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THE GAME
BILLS (6-4, 2nd AFC East) at SAINTS (5-5, 2nd NFC South)
Where: Caesars Superdome, New Orleans, Louisiana
When: 7:20 p.m., Thursday, Nov. 25 (Thanksgiving)
TV: NBC
Listen: WWL AM-870; FM-105.3
"I think the unique thing about this team that mimics the city, is the resiliency in the face of adversity, right? Nobody could’ve foresaw the type of adversity we’ve faced this season,” Davis said. "But that’s not in our DNA to look for pity or look for sympathy. First of all, nobody cares. Most people don’t care, and the rest of them are glad you’ve got them, those problems.”
And those problems have been center stage throughout close losses to the Atlanta Falcons and Tennessee Titans, as well as a 40-29 defeat to the Eagles in Week 11. The team was already playing without WR Michael Thomas, K Wil Lutz, G Andrus Peat and QB Jameis Winston, all of whom are done for the year with injuries. They were also playing without star running back Alvin Kamara, nickelback CJ Gardner-Johnson, RT Ryan Ramczyk and LT Terron Armstead.
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Kamara and Ramczyk have already been ruled out for Week 12. Armstead and running back Mark Ingram are questionable. The Bills are facing their own adversity, coming off a loss to the Indianapolis Colts in which they surrendered five touchdowns to running back Jonathan Taylor. This Saints team knows one win can change a lot, and they don’t have to wait around long for it.
They’ve compressed their preparation and, more notably, the recovery from Week 12. How will they respond on Thanksgiving? That will tell you a lot more about this team than the struggles have, as Davis tells it.
"It’s not if you succeed or if you fail or get knocked down, it’s how you respond to when you succeed and how you respond to when you go through hardships. And I think it’s an opportunity to be a light to so many people in the way that you respond to it,” Davis said. "And that’s the season where you are, that’s what’s going on, and understand that the storm doesn’t last always, and you just keep going forward. It’s an opportunity for great things to happen. And so that’s how I look at it and how I process it. The energy in our locker room is good. We see this challenge coming in tomorrow, and looking forward to that and making the most of it.”
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